Current-controller for induction-coils



P. R. WERNER.- I CURRENT CONTROLLER FOR INDUCTION COILS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24, I915.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEYS P. R WERNER. v CURRENT CONTROLLER FOR moucnow cons. I APPLICATIUN FILED FEB-24 1915. 1,364,167. latentd Jan. 4, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- WITNESSES ATTORNEY? PAUL n. WERNER, or PHILADELPHIA, IPENNSYLVANMIA.

cunnnnrcon'momnn non mtvcmbmons; a

'Applicatiqniileli Fe r ary 24,1915; sedative. 03cc,

To all whomc't may concern." I Be it known that 1, PAUL VVERNER', a citizen of the United Statesfresidinin the city and county of Philadelphia, tate' of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Current-Controllers for Induction- Coils, of which the following is a specifica tion.

It is thepurpose of my present invention to devise a contact making and breaking device that will control the electric current used in the primary winding of an induction coil for the purpose of producing sparks in a gap in the secondary winding.

It is particularly the purpose to devisea device that will produce eitherfa single make of desired duration and a break, or a multiplicity of such makes and breaks at desired intervals to produce sparks of a uniform character atvery short intervals of'time, as for instance to ignite the charges in an internal combustion engine.

It is a further purpose to devise an electrically operated current controlling mecha-' nism for induction coils that will cause'a spark to be produced by said coil when the current is caused to flow through the mechanism and another spark to be produced when the current through said mechanism is interrupted,

It is a further purpose to avoid the difiiculties encountered in the operation of mechanically controlled devices, as heretofore employed, such di'fliculties arising principally through the effects of the inertia of the various parts when operating at a rela tively high speed.

My invention in its broad and'generic scope consists of an induction coil sparkproducer wherein a plurality of successive contacts of fixed duration are produced and controlled electrically instead of mechanically.

My invention further consists of a main circuit which, by means of a contact mechanism, will produce a current in a secondary circuit, such main circuit being controlled by a shunt circuit. p

My invention further consists of means to utilize an electro-magnet in the shuntcircuit to control the production of a spark in. one of the circuits.

My invention further consists of a novel spark producer in which a single actuating member causes a contact to be made on both its advance and its return move- J Specification. Letters Patenti. I i" Patented an. 4,1921;

ment, with a minimum consumption ofelec V tr c current. i

' inventionfurther consists of a device of the 'character stated'which eliminates the necessity "of employing mechanical controllingmeans to open and'close a circuit and I one in which the contacts'will be uniformly v made, irrespective of the speed of the mechanism' controlled. o My invention. furtherconsists of means for opening the shunt circuit fif'the contact parts stop on shortcircuit when the appa ,ratus controlle'd bythe spark is inactive.

,My invention further consists of a spark producingsystem wherein the shunt, circult'andthemaln circuit, cannot be shortcircuited. o o 1 ,Other objects and advantages of my invention will hereinafter more clearly appear. in the detailed description.

For the purposeof illustrating my invention", I have shown in' the accompanyingdrawings those forms'thereof which are at present preferred by me, since the same will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which myinvention consistscan be vari ously arranged and organizedand that my invent on is not limited to the precise ar:

rangement of these finstrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Figure 1 represents, diagrammatically, a-

wiring diagram embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 represents a sectional elevation of a portion of Fig. 1. I e v IFigs. 3 and 4 represent, diagrammatically, wiring diagrams of other embodimentsof my invention. o o

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the figures.

I Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a sourcelof electric supply such as for example a battery, which is electrically connected. by the line 2 with a contact mechanism 3. The contact mechanism 3 comprises, in the presentinstance, a movable contact 4 carried by the'free end of aspring arm 5 and, the oppositeend is.

connected with a contact actuating member 6 which comprises a plate or bar having the kr'eversely inclined faces 7. The memher 6 hasone end connected with binding post 8 and its opposite end 9 is outwardly andrearwardly deflected to form a stop for the contact carrying member 5. 10 designates a stop to limit the movement of the member 6 in one direction. 11 designates the stationary contact, which is adjustably mounted and in communication with the line 12 leading to the primary coil 13, which is connected with the battery by means of theline 14, which, intlie form illustrated, is connected with such battery by the ground.

15 designates a secondary coil and 16 designatesa condenser which is shuntedon the primary coil. The secondary coil is connected with the usual distributing means for the secondary circuit, which is well known in this art, and it has therefore been deemed unnecessary to illustrate the same in detail. 17 designates a line communicating With the source of electric supply 1 and with an eiectro-magnet lo which is in communication by means of lines 19 and 20 with a desired numoer of LOIltllCtS 21, a four-contact arrangement being illustrated in the drawing, but it is of course to be understood that any desired number of contacts may be employed.

22 designates a contact arm which is in communication by means of a line 23 with the battery 1 and, for the purpose of illustration, this has been shown as through the ground.

eferring now to Fig. 2, 24 designates a rotatable shaft having a stop 25 with which normally contacts a weighted arm 26 which is pivotally carried, as at 27, by the shaft 24: or by an arm 22 secured to said shaft. 28 designates a contact which is freely movable in an aperture 29 of the contact arm 22, and the bottom of said movable contact 28 normally rests on the weighted arm 26.

- 3O designates the core of the electro-magnet which cooperates with an armature 31 movably supported at 32 and provided with a spring 33 which normally maintains it v against the stop 34, and a stop 35 is provided to limit the movement of said armature 31 in the opposite direction, and the position of such armature, when in contact with the stop 35, is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The operation of my induction coil spark producer will now be readily apparent to those skilled in this art, and is as follows The type of contact mechanism illustrated in Fig. 2 and in Fig. 1 comprising the contacts 28 and 21, is shown for purposes of illustration only, and other forms can be substituted therefor, if desired, although the type illustrated is believed to be generically novel and is broadly claimed herein.

.Meansare employed for controlling the shunt circuit, whereby the shunt circuit may be automatically interrupted when the apparatus is inactive. When the shunt circuit is formed, the electro-magnet 18 is energized, thereby causing the armature 31 to move from its position seen in full lines to that seen .in dotted lines against the tension of the spring 33. During such movement, the end of the armature 31 which is preferably rounded or reversely inclined, coacts with the faces '7 of the contact mechanism 3, thereby causing the free end of the member 6 to move outwardly and permit the resilient arm 5 to move the movable contact 4 into and out of engagement with the stationary contact 11, and a contact of the requisite length is produced to produce a current in the main circuit, which induces a current in the secondary circuit. The condenser 16 facilitates the production of the spark in the usual and well known manner. As soon as the current is broken in the shunt circuit, the spring 33 causes the armature 31 to be returned to its normal position, at which time it is in contact with the stop 34, and during such movement, the contact mechanism 3 will be actuated in the manner hereinbefore described and the current will be formed a second time in the main circuit to produce a second spark in the secondary circuit. The interval between the two successive sparks in the two successive contacts in the main circuit will be controlled by the making and breaking of the shunt circuit.

The utility of this dual spark is that in case a pocket should be formed in the explosive charge and the first spark would fail to ignite, the second spark will ignite the explosive charge. The contact mechanism 3, as will be apparent, is of such construction that it cannot stop on short-circuit and will make a contact of fixed duration, since when the electroanagnet is energized, the armature cannot have anything but a full stroke, as is apparent.

The contact mechanism for controlling the shunt circuit is illustrated as consisting of a shaft 2 1 which is driven in any desired manner, whereby the contact carrying member 22 is caused to revolve. This causes the weighted arm 26 to fly outwardly and upwardly due to the centrifugal force, thereby moving the movable contact 28 into position to contact with the stationary contact 21, and the making and breaking of the contact causes the energizing and deenergizing of the electro-magnet 18. This construction reduces the consumption of current which would occur if the apparatus stopped on contact.

The embodiment seen in Fig. 3 differs from that seen in Fig. 1 in that the contacts in the controlling means are constructed to effect the opening and closing of the circuit in a shorter interval of time. Since the circuits are electrically the same as thatin Fig. 1, similar parts have been given corresponding reference characters. The induction coil is illustrated as located in the main circuit anterior to the contact mechanism instead of posterior thereto as in Fig. 1. In-

- stead of employing contacts as 21, I employ the contacts 36 which are of less operative length than the contacts 21, the result-of which is that the shorter electrical contact caused by theengagement of parts 28 and 36 causes an earlier return of the armature 31. If desired part of the circuit may be returned through line 37 instead of 12 and 14.

In the embodiment seen in Fig. 4 thewiring diagram is electrically the same and corresponding parts have therefore been given the same reference characters as in Figs. 1 and 2. The only difference is that the contacts 38 corresponding to contacts 21 in Fig. 1, or 36 in Fig. 3, are longer or of greater operative length and a lesser number are employed. The result of this is that the contact of 28 with 38 is of longer duration and the armature 31 is held in the position seen in dotted lines a longer interval of time. In the embodiment seen in Fig. 1, a single revolution of 22 will cause eight sparks to be produced. When 28 initially engages with a contact 21 the electromagnet is energized, thereby attracting the armature 31 to cause a contact to be made and broken at 4 and 11. The construction of the parts may be varied so that any desired length of contact will be made. When contact 28 disengages with the same contact 21, the elcctromagnet is deenergized and the means for returning the armature 31 illustrated as a spring 33 causes the return movement of the armature to its initial position and a second contact is made and broken at 4 and 11. The spring 33 is illustrative only and any other means may be employed to effect the return movement of the armature such as for example, a dashpot, magnet, or other mechanism.

In Fig. 3 the operative length of contact formed by 28 and 36 is of shorter duration than that formed in Fig. 1 by 28 and 21, therefore the return of the armature 31 to initial position takes place sooner, the result of which is evident. If the dotted line 37 is used instead of lines 12 and 141, the current flow is interrupted when 28 is disengaged from a contact 36 so that no current at such time will flow through the main circuit so that on a single revolution of 22 the main circuit will be made and broken but four times instead of eight since four of the contacts made by the mechanism 3 will be ineffective. I

In Fig. {L the operative length of contact between 28 and 38 is longer than the corresponding contact in Figs. 1 and 3, but two contacts 38 being employed. The engagement and disengagement of 28 with 36 causes. the making and breaking of the circuit to occur at each quarter revolution of 22. four times in a single revolution of 22. By

I tacts were often missed when the speed of.

vised a novel and useful construction of a This makes and breaks the main circuit varied.

In all the, embodiments j herein shown, I electromagnetic means are used to make and 7 break a contact of a given duration. p

p In ignition systems as heretofore constructed,-a contact of fixed duration has been produced which was "mechanically controlled by the engine, but in practice, conthe engineincreased beyond certain limits, at which time the lag of the moving part or partswas so great that theapparatus became inoperative. p a I In my present invention, the necessity of mechanically controlling the making and; breaking of the induction coil circuit is eliminated and the necessity of em loying a multiplicity of moving parts whic are mechanically operated is obviated.

The length of contact of thecontrolling means may/also be'varied by varying the dimension of the brush 28.

It will now be apparent that I have de---9o current controller for induction coils, which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the. statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have, in the present instance, shown and described preferred embodiments thereof which will be found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that the same are susceptible of modification in various particularswithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention "or sacrificing any of its advan- I tages. I

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. A main circuit, a shunt circuit, an electromagnet in the shunt circuit,"means controlled by the armature of the electromagnet when energized to make and break the main circuit, and means to cause said armature to make and )break the main circuit when the electromagnet is deenergized.

2. circuit, a second circuit, an electromagnet in said second circuit, means con trolled by the electro-magnet when energized to make and break the first circuit, and means to cause the armature of the electro-magnet to make and break the first circuit when said electro-magnet is denergized. I f

PAUL R. WERNER.

Witnesses:

H. S. FAIRBANKS, C. D. McVAY. 

